(A) "Fat"
Nucleosides and Nucleotides as Potential Anticancer and Antiviral Agents:These novel ring-expanded ("fat")
nucleoside/nucleotide analogues, designed and synthesized in this lab, have
been found to be potent, broad-spectrum anticancer and antiviral agents
with little, if any, toxicity to the host. Our current focus is on
prostate and breast cancers, as well as on West Nile, Hepatits B, and Hepatitis C
viruses. "Fat" nucleotides are potential modulators of tumor
and/or viral DNA/RNA when incorporated, which may consequently result in
nucleic acid chain termination ( Fig. 1), and hence
inhibition of the viral or tumor replication. In addition, because of
their unique structural, spatial, and conformational characteristics,
"fat" nucleosides/-tides are excellent probes for nucleic acid
metabolism, structure, and function.

(B) Artificial Blood for
Emergency Transfusions:One of our research areas
focuses on developing substitutes for human blood for emergency
transfusions. In view of the current world events engulfed in terrorism
and wars, the need for a blood substitute is becoming increasingly pressing. The scarcity of
blood for emergency transfusions, especially when rare types are needed, the
possible trans­mission of diseases associated with blood transfusion such as
AIDS and hepatitis, the limitations on storage stability of intact blood, the
necessity for blood typing before transfusion, and not to mention the ancillary
religious reasons for non-acceptance of donated blood by certain ethnic
individuals, give compelling impetus to pursue an alternative for whole blood.
To this end, we are involved in computer-aided design and chemical
synthesis of novel polyfunctional organic reagents to cross‑link
hemoglobin (see Fig. 2). The modified cell-free hemoglobins
are to be used in emergency transfusions with no necessity to type or
cross-match the patient’s blood and with no fears of transmission of
blood-borne diseases. The covalently cross-linked hemoglobins are
supposed to overcome the two major problems associated with cell-free
hemoglobins, including their quick elimination by kidneys, and their too high
oxygen affinity that prevents adequate oxygen transport from lungs to tissues.

R. K. Ujjinamatada
and R. S. Hosmane, “Selective Functional Group Transformation Using Guanidne:
The Conversion of an Ester Group into an Amide in Vinylogous Ester-Aldehydes,” Tetrahedron
Lett.2005, 46, 6005-6009.

H. -M. Chen and R. S. Hosmane,
"Synthesis of a Novel Ring-Expanded Nucleoside Analogue Containing the
Imidazo[4,5-e][1,3]diazepine Ring System With a Guanidinocarbamoyl- Substituted
Cyclopropylidene Group in Place of a Sugar Moiety," J. Heterocyclic
Chem.2000, 37, 951-953.

As of December 2008, I have had
more than 150 people who worked in my lab since I joined the faculty of UMBC in
1982, including high school seniors, undergraduates, graduate students,
post-doctoral research associates, visiting research scientists, and visiting
professors. While I have had the professional pleasure of collaborating
and/or training these various individuals in my specific research areas, I have
also benefitted and learnt a lot from them both professionally and
socially. Day-to-day interaction with my research group, in itself, has
been a great learning experience for me as my group over the past few years has
been a unique mix of racial and ethnic diversity, comprised of whites, blacks,
Indians, Chinese, Germans, French, Polish, Russians, Koreans, Syrians, and
Iranians. All my former graduate and postdoctoral students have been well-placed
in academia, industry, or government. The following is a list of
some of the photographs of my research group over the years: